The timeline indicates that the ANC “recalled” Zuma (directed him to resign the presidency) on February 13, and that he has refused. Now he faces a vote of no-confidence in parliament or possible impeachment.

The impending resignation of Jacob Zuma as president of South Africa was not necessarily unexpected following the defeat of his preferred candidate in the African National Congress’s (ANC) elections for party leader. However, it is happening more quickly than many observers predicted, including this one.

Just like the complex nature of state capture itself, with its dizzying web of corruption propped up by esoteric procurement laws, the devil of Zuma’s commission announcement is in the legal details. In South Africa, the “commission capital of the world,” debate abounds as to whether or not these costly productions actually achieve what they set out to do.

South Africa's Constitutional Court ruled that the parliament had failed in its constitutional obligation to hold President Jacob Zuma accountable for illegal expenditure of public money on his private compound, Nkandla, and gave parliament six months to put in place a mechanism for removing the president.